Insights

Reverend Dr. William H. Curtis

Choking out Insecurity

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2 NIV

Paul lays out in Romans 12, foundational doctrines for a passionate and victorious Christian life. To live out this life, Paul starts by teaching the Romans how to defeat their personal insecurities. If we cannot deal with and defeat our own inner insecurities, we risk compromising our Christian life.

Spiritual insecurity prevents us from accessing all the power that comes to us through our relationship with Jesus Christ. Through our relationship with Christ we have access to the kingdom of God, and we have power and spiritual gifts. We have the channel to eternal possibilities. We live in Christ’s forgiveness.

But the worst thing that could happen would be for us to be insecure about who we are in general and who we are in Christ. It will frustrate and limit our journey. It will make us look at ourselves in narrow ways, and we will miss the benefits of living with the Spirit’s enablement. We will think that the scriptures are motivating, but not realistically possible.

Insecurity is not just lacking self-confidence. When we are insecure, we are dangerous because we want others to give us security. So, we put too much pressure on others, when God is the one who has the answers. When we are insecure, we create unsafe emotional spaces for ourselves and those around us.

Paul’s answer to the threat of human insecurity is to choke out what feeds insecurity: feeling the need to conform. When we make the choice to stop living with the need to conform to the pattern of this world, we can defeat insecurity. When the thoughts, opinions, and impulses of our culture no longer hold us down, we are free to live a Christian life.

When physical beauty and material wealth are no longer our goals and ideals, we can live a life that is transformed and renewed. Then, insecurity will fall away, and we can begin to understand God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will.